A successful adoption requires many moving pieces to ensure that the adoption process is completed responsibly and legally, which lead to various adoption costs for the adoptive parents. The adoptive parents are required to pay for much of the adoption costs, which will be further discussed later.

The following are five of the most common adoption costs of a private domestic adoption.

1. Adoption Home Study

An adoption home study is performed by a social worker who visits the adoptive family and their home. There are two stages of an adoption home study. 1) The social worker collects documentation on the family, to ensure that they are ready to become parents. These documents range from FBI reports to financial records. Once all of the documentation is collected, the next stage sees the social worker drive to their home. 2) The in-home visit is when the social worker interviews the adoptive parents to find out their motivations in adoption and to make sure they are well-grounded people. Also, the social worker will investigate their home to ensure that the home is safe in which to raise a child.

Once the adoption is completed, post-placement services are required, which are similar to the original home study, and is intended to make sure the baby and the parents are adjusting to each other well.

The many steps of an adoption home study can quickly add up to thousands of dollars, so adoptive families should expect this to be a significant cost in their adoption. All adoptions require a home study.

2. Adoption Counseling

Sometimes counseling can be undervalued by those who don’t feel like they have anything bothering them emotionally. However, adopting a child is such an emotional experience that some sort of counseling is required for not just all adoptive families, but also for all birth mothers.

Usually, the adoptive family chooses to adopt a baby privately because they are unable to have children biologically. Once the hopeful parents become aware of this news, they often will experience a challenging grief and loss process in their lives. Before proceeding with the adoption process, some adoption agencies provide this counseling, and most others will recommend it.

The birth mother will undoubtedly need counseling as well, as she will be going through her own struggles with grief and loss. Again, adoption agencies will either provide these counseling services or refer a place to receive them. And as with most of the birth mothers expenses, the adoptive parents will pay for her counseling.

3. Birth Mother’s Living Expenses

Many adoption agencies require the adoptive family to pay for the birth mother’s living expenses, including her housing, transportation, food and other essentials, maternity clothing and prenatal care. While some adoptive parents may not understand why they have to pay for these expenses, they soon realize that their ultimate goal is to bring home a healthy baby. If the birth mother has to worry about working 40 hours a week or more to support herself and the baby, she could become stressed, which could harm the baby or even cause the birth mother to change her mind about the adoption altogether.

4. Hospital Costs

Giving birth to a baby is not cheap and can approach $10,000 or more, depending on if the birth mother needs a c-section, if she needs to spend multiple days in the hospital, if the baby is born premature, or any other variables that can happen in the hospital room. Again, the adoptive family will cover these expenses.

5. Legal Expenses

Finally, the adoptive family will pay for the legal expenses associated with the adoption. These generally include the termination of the birth parent’s parental rights, attorney fees, court costs, finalization of the adoption, and any other legal issues that may happen in any given adoption. If, for example, the birth father would happen to contest his parental rights, this could prolong the process, meaning more expenses for the adoptive family.

Undoubtedly, adoptions require many different professionals and therefore can become expensive, but at the end of the day, the reward is priceless – a newborn baby. This is the main reason why adoptive parents have to pay the bills for much of the adoption, because what they are receiving in return really doesn’t have a price tag.

American Adoptions has much more information on adoption costs, including a more detailed breakdown of the moneys required in a private domestic adoption.